STR are researching the impact that Airbnb may be having on the hotel industry. Their full report will be coming out later this year, but they have released some preliminary data. This suggests the impact is not as great as … Continue reading →

Interesting piece on the hotelowner.co.uk website explaining how independent operators can take advantage of some startups that will facilitate their business. The five they list are as follows: Hotelchamp – this is software that is designed to optimise the effectiveness … Continue reading →

When American retail giant Walmart acquired online retailer jet.com last year it hit the headlines because of the $3.3 bn price tag. Subsequently, the merged companies have been in the news because of the ongoing clash between their two corporate … Continue reading →

This piece by Nicky Jackson on the entrepreneur.com website is headlined “10 forces that have caused the packaged food startup explosion”. I’m not sure that these can be categorised as “forces”, that they have “caused” anything (maybe ‘helped shape’?), nor … Continue reading →

It is very clear that Blockchain will be a disruptive technology – that is to say it will significantly change the way in which operations are managed in the future. In particular it will modify supply chains and distribution networks, … Continue reading →

Last week, Capgemini launched their report – ‘The Disconnected Customer: what digital customer experience leaders teach us about reconnecting with customers‘ (PDF available here). This is based on research with 600 executives and 3,000 consumers. It seems that this … Continue reading →

Over the last four years, Dixons Carphone have consolidated their 25% market share of the UK’s consumer electronics market. This is despite the fact that across the retail sector, from grocery goods to fashion, online shopping has resulted in significant … Continue reading →

I’ve frequently blogged about online retailing, but I have not mentioned an operations phenomenon that often underpins this business model – ‘dropshipping‘. This is the concept of not holding any retail inventory, but shipping goods to customers directly from … Continue reading →